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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
41 The Pendragon Affair Pendragon was the last all-wooden, and arguably one of the finest Stewart 34’s built. She was also the most controversial. What has come to be known as“the Pendragon Affair” actually started in the late 1960’s when Ken Allen purchased Pahi. Ken naturally wanted to win yacht races. It is somewhat doubtful, however, that he ever read, let alone fully absorbed the Stewart Class Rules and Constitution that clearly state that“no boat is to be altered in order to gain an unfair speed advantage. While this rule may be a conundrum for many owners, most realise that it must be observed in order to perpetuate the quality and success of a one design class. In order to improve headsail sheeting angles, Ken reduced the width of Pahi’s spreaders and shifted the chain plates inboard by approximately a foot. The Class did not approve of this modification and Pahi was barred from Stewart Class Racing. In a committee letter to Ken dated 17 February 1970 he was invited to apply for re-measurement if he brought the boat back into Class rules. This he eventually did, but not until Pahi had missed out on a summer of Stewart Class racing. Pahi did however sail extremely well in the Squadron’s Class B Division mixed racing, a tribute to Allen’s sailing ability. In a sudden change,Allen went from bending the rules to enforcing the rules as he became Class Secretary in June of 1971. Two years later he was also appointed as the Class Measurer. In 1976 it was Ken Allen who suggested to the Association that they should begin to build Stewarts in fiberglass. When the construction of fibreglass Stewarts finally commenced, one of the earliest expressions of interest came from Ken Allen. He gathered all the relevant information and seemed quite keen. After a few months of careful consideration he changed his mind and announced he was going to build a new Stewart from wood. Ken then came to the Stewart Committee and declared that, according to his calculations, it was impossible to build a wooden Stewart as light as a glass one based upon the Class rule. He requested dispensation to reduce the thickness of the wooden planking in the skin from 7 /8”to 3 /4”,which would result in a 12.5% weight reduction. The committee denied his request,but not without a surprising amount of discussion. Ken’s boat builder, John Rea, then went ahead and built Pendragon, quietly making a few modifications that were not permitted within the class rule. Instead of being heavier than the fibreglass boats, she turned out to be 1150 pounds, or more than 11% lighter. Pendragon turned out to be a wonderful boat, which sailed very quickly, and blitzed the Stewart fleet on numerous occasions. While she demonstrated the full speed potential of a Stewart 34,she unfortunately did not conform to the Class Rules. Prior to Pendragon’s launching,Ken Allen hosted all the Stewart owners at his lovely Remuera home for the annual Association barbeque, which was enjoyed by all and endeared him to the Association. Soon after Pendragon was weighed, launched and began cleaning up on the race course. The honeymoon was over and bitter infighting commenced. Ken nonetheless managed to get himself re-elected as Secretary of the Stewart Association in July of 1983. Perhaps because of this, along with his close associations with Chairman Niall Cotton, Ex-Chairman Evan Kerr-Taylor and John Craig, he was able to garner support from a majority of the Committee and was able to keep racing Pendragon in her non-conforming trim. The Committee, with a pro-Pendragon majority, would resist every effort from July of 1983 until July of 1984 to take any real action towards equalizing the boat. The Pendragon affair was undoubtedly the most controversial and divisive issue in the history of the Stewart Association. It is ironic that the Committee was defending Pendragon’s right to race whilst she was 1150 pounds underweight,when just one year prior underweight yachts built in fibreglass by Export Yachts were not granted race certificates until they were fitted with lead equalizers. In an attempt to quiet the uproar, Ken placed 500 pounds of lead ballast down low and in the middle of the boat. While this went some ways towards equalising the weight of Pendragon, it was not placed in the correct locations as per the class rules. This would still give her an unfair advantage over the other boats that had weight higher and towards the ends of the boat (see “Swing Testing”). Further, Ken as Class Secretary, signed Pendragon’s Warrant of Fitness certificate, which is required of all